Forest City Courier, Aug. 11, 1938

Soon golden rod will be in bloom. Now it is beginning to open its yellow petals and we see it along the roadsides and fields. Nature has been lavish in giving us such an abundance of this lovely flower, while in Europe and a few other countries it is tenderly cultivated in flower gardens. As the summer begins to wane it blooms profusely and the whole countryside looks as if it had been spread with a cloth of gold. No other flower would have been more suitable to be chosen as the national flower of our own United States. In flower language it means encouragement. In this day of turmoil and changing conditions in a topsy-turvy world, it is symbolic of what it stands for encouragement. They are ever-growing with their golden faces jubilantly weaving us a cheery greeting of assurance.

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Since childhood I have loved to walk through cemeteries, especially those in country churchyards. To me it is interesting to read the epitaphs and note the different graves. Some with plain one, others with more elaborated ones, and still others with ordinary field stones to mark the head and foot. These usually have an old fashioned rose or lilac showing tender care of the last resting place of loved ones. A newly made grave covered with fresh flowers seems to hold a more poignant I note of sadness. Here and there we find two or three graves under the protecting shade of a friendly old oak tree. Further on we find old graves with moss covered stones. These sometimes have a neglected look, showing that the survivors too have passed on.

 

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Courier. Copyright owned by The Daily Courier.